Chile anti-trust regulator to probe Tianqi purchase of SQM stake

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SANTIAGO, June 15 (Reuters) - Chile’s anti-trust regulator FNE said on Friday it would open an investigation into the effects on the market of China’s Tianqi purchase last month of a 24 percent stake in SQM , one of the world’s top lithium producers.

Chile’s government under former President Michelle Bachelet in March filed a complaint with the FNE alleging a potential fusion between the two lithium giants would distort the global market for the key ingredient in the batteries that power electric vehicles. (Reporting by Aislinn Laing and Dave Sherwood; Editing by Sandra Maler)